August 30, 2006

Super Sekrit Hold Senator is...

CNN has confirmed that Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has placed a hold on a bill that would require the government to publish a database of federal spending online.

"He does have a hold on the bill," Stevens spokesperson Aaron Saunders told CNN. "At the time he placed the hold he notified Sen. [Tom] Coburn and his staff and identified several questions we had with the bill. Two weeks ago Sen. Coburn named Stevens as having a hold on the bill so we don't consider it a secret."

Senate tradition allows any senator to keep a piece of legislation from reaching the Senate floor by placing a hold on the bill.

Coburn's office confirmed that Coburn had revealed Steven's hold during a town hall meeting in Oklahoma two weeks ago.

The bill has become a cause célèbre for both liberal and conservative bloggers as they tried to uncover the "secret senator" who had blocked passage of the bill, titled "Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act" (S. 2590). The bill was introduced by Sens. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and Coburn, R-Oklahoma, earlier this year.